arXiv subjects

Richard Berndt

Publications and source records attributed to Richard Berndt.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Passing current through touching molecules

The charge flow from a single C60 molecule to another one has been probed. The conformation and electronic states of both molecules on the contacting electrodes have been characterized using a cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope. While the contact conductance of a single molecule between two Cu electrodes can vary up to a factor of three depending on electrode geometry, the conductance of the C60-C60 contact is consistently lower by two orders of magnitude. First-principles transport calculations reproduce the experimental results, allow a determination of the actual C60-C60 distances, and identify the essential role of the intermolecular link in bi- and trimolecular chains.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Evolution of unoccupied resonance during the synthesis of a silver dimer on Ag(111)

Silver dimers were fabricated on Ag(111) by single-atom manipulation using the tip of a cryogenic scanning tunnelling microscope. An unoccupied electronic resonance was observed to shift toward the Fermi level with decreasing atom-atom distance as monitored by spatially resolved scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. Density functional calculations were used to analyse the experimental observations and revealed that the coupling between the adsorbed atoms is predominantly direct rather than indirect via the Ag(111) substrate.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Quantum modulation of the Kondo resonance of Co adatoms on Cu/Co/Cu(100)

Low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals that the Kondo temperature T_K of Co atoms adsorbed on Cu/Co/Cu(100) multilayers varies between 60 K and 134 K as the Cu film thickness decreases from 20 to 5 atomic layers. The observed change of T_K is attributed to a variation of the density of states at the Fermi level ρ_F induced by quantum well states confined to the Cu film. A model calculation based on the quantum oscillations of ρ_F at the belly and the neck of the Cu Fermi surface reproduces most of the features in the measured variation of T_K.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Ultraviolet light emission from Si in a scanning tunneling microscope

Ultraviolet and visible radiation is observed from the contacts of a scanning tunneling microscope with Si(100) and (111) wafers. This luminescence relies on the presence of hot electrons in silicon, which are supplied, at positive bias on n- and p-type samples, through the injection from the tip, or, at negative bias on p-samples, by Zener tunneling. Measured spectra reveal a contribution of direct optical transitions in Si bulk. The necessary holes well below the valence band edge are injected from the tip or generated by Auger processes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Two-Electron Photon Emission From Metallic Quantum Wells

Unusual emission of visible light is observed in scanning tunneling microscopy of the quantum well system Na on Cu(111). Photons are emitted at energies exceeding the energy of the tunneling electrons. Model calculations of two-electron processes which lead to quantum well transitions reproduce the experimental fluorescence spectra, the quantum yield, and the power-law variation of the intensity with the excitation current.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2003

Light emission from Na/Cu(111) induced by a scanning tunneling microscope

Measurements of light emission from a scanning tunneling microscope probing a Na overlayer on the (111) surface of Cu are reported along with results of a model calculation that essentially agree with the experimental ones. The observed light emission spectra show two characteristic features depending on the bias voltage. When the bias voltage is smaller than the energy of the second quantum well state formed outside the Na overlayer the light emission is due to a plasmon-mediated process, while for larger biases light emission is mainly caused by quantum well transitions between the two levels.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2001

Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy of electron resonators

The electronic structure of artificial Mn atom arrays on Ag(111) is characterized in detail with scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging at low temperature. We demonstrate the degree to which variations in geometry may be used to control spatial and spectral distributions of surface state electrons confined within the arrays, how these are influenced by atoms placed within the structure and how the ability to induce spectral features at specific energies may be exploited through lineshape analyses to deduce quasiparticle lifetimes near the Fermi level. Through extensive comparison of $dI/dV$ maps and spectra we demonstrate the utility of a model based upon two-dimensional s-wave scatterers for describing and predicting the characteristics of specific resonators.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗